Walsh team mum about future

Sen. John Walsh’s campaign went into lockdown Wednesday amid questions over whether the appointed Montana Democrat, embroiled in a plagiarism scandal, would stay in a Senate race that many in the party now view as a lost cause.

On Tuesday evening, Walsh met with his most trusted senior aides to discuss a path forward, sources said. Afterwards, several of his advisers and other top Democratic officials believed that the Montana Democrat would drop out, but as of Wednesday evening, sources were still stressing that he may well choose to continue his improbable bid. A decision has to come by Monday, the deadline for candidates to remove their names from the ballot.

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After canceling several campaign events this week, Walsh’s top spokesmen on Wednesday refused to respond to inquiries about the senator, who was deliberating at his home in Helena, Mont. Top Democrats in Washington also said they had little insight into Walsh’s thinking, giving the former lieutenant governor space to make his decision. If he does drop out, the Montana Democratic Party will have until Aug. 20 to name a replacement.

Even if Walsh did step aside, Democrats in Washington and Montana both acknowledge that the Senate race could be out of reach. There is little time for a replacement to gather steam, particularly in a red state during a year when President Barack Obama is deeply unpopular and after Republicans fielded a formidable candidate in Rep. Steve Daines. Adding to to the problems: Montana Democrats have a thin bench to field a replacement.

Several Democrats pointed to Nancy Keenan, the former national president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, but it’s far from clear whether she’d be open to a run. Other potential candidates include John Bohlinger, who earned 23 percent against Walsh in the June 3 Democratic primary, as well as Brian Schweitzer, the folksy former governor who would be an unpredictable force on the campaign trail.

“If Sen. Walsh were to step down – and I don’t think he will – but if he were to, and Democrats wanted someone who could beat Daines, I think I could. That’s why I ran in the first place,” Bohlinger told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Montana was always seen as a long shot for Senate Democrats in a tough election year.

After Max Baucus, a powerful veteran Democrat who controlled the state party’s political machine, decided against running for reelection last year, it was viewed as a likely Republican pickup. But after Baucus left the Senate upon being confirmed in February to become U.S. ambassador to China, Walsh was appointed to the seat by Gov. Steve Bullock, giving Walsh the power of incumbency ahead of a tough election bid.

His fortunes, however, changed two weeks ago when The New York Times reported that he had plagiarized significant portions of a paper to earn his master’s degree in 2007 at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Despite apologizing for what he called a mistake and noting he been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his service in Iraq, the 33-year military veteran has been in damage control ever since. Punitive actions by the school — such as stripping him of his degree — are possible, potentially adding new distractions for Walsh and other Democrats on the ballot in Montana.